Home designers are drawing inspiration from the past to address a gap in the Perth housing market and meet a growing need for low-maintenance living options that are both affordable and highly liveable.

Terrace homes, once a familiar sight in Australian cities in the 1800s and early 1900s, are making a resurgence with the much-loved housing style now featuring in new masterplanned communities such as Stockland’s Calleya in Treeby.

Col Dutton, General Manager for Stockland WA, said the growing popularity of terrace homes was a response to an increasing need in Perth for a housing style other than detached homes or apartments.

“This gap in housing styles is called the ‘missing middle’ - something in between a typical block of land with a house on it and an apartment,” Mr Dutton said.

“A lot of people have busy lifestyles and they don’t want to wrestle with the garden every weekend, but they still want a beautiful home with plenty of space that has outdoor living areas.”

Ryan Dunham, Architectural Project Leader at Hames Sharley, said the team delved into the past for inspiration when designing the Visage homes.

“We’re revisiting the much loved Australian terrace home and introducing some necessary design elements to allow for more natural light, ventilation and to support community development along the street,” Mr Dunham said.

“The old terrace homes had a great relationship with the street and created opportunities for neighbours to meet.

“We wanted to invest in creating a community and provide opportunities to get to know your neighbours by making sure we created a great relationship between the houses at Calleya with usable and friendly outdoor spaces.

“It was also important to ensure the homes were comfortable year-round, bringing in as much natural light as possible and utilising sunlight and cross-ventilation to either cool the house in summer or warm it in winter.”

The courtyards in the Visage terrace homes have been designed to take advantage of the seasons – capturing winter sunlight but also providing shade in summer. A number of homes include kitchen benches which extend into courtyard spaces, blurring the distinction between inside and outside.

The laneways in the Visage precinct at Calleya also have an important purpose.

“We wanted the laneways to be useable community spaces where residents could meet and the kids could play,” Mr Dunham said.

“We’ve encouraged this by extending the landscaping to the laneways and the garage spaces open up to the laneway, allowing for additional entertaining space.”

Visage terrace homes are within walking distance to Calleya’s future planned shopping precinct and have easy access to a wide range of amenities. Calleya is just 23km from Perth’s CBD and two kilometres from Cockburn Gateway Shopping Centre and Cockburn Train Station.

For growing families, there are three-bedroom, two-bathroom options from $449,000, including balconies.

Located at Azurite Way in Treeby, the Visage display homes are open weekends from 2.30-4pm or by private appointment. Email visage@stockland.com.au, visit www.stockland.com.au/calleya or call Burgess Rawson associate director Troy Smith on 0414 730 273 for more information.